Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, but it can also mean bringing people together to share the future. That is exactly what Prime Expo Inc. Matchmaking does at the supplier and customer level.

How does it work?

As an visitor, you can describe what you buy in even greater detail in your product entry. You can also link your entry to the target groups that you define or the country that you enter. For their part, visitors provide information about exactly what they are looking for and their area of responsibility in their company (e.g. development, manufacturing/production, sales/marketing or purchasing/procurement). The Prime Expo Inc. Matchmaking compares the information, proposes relevant contacts and allows you to initiate business before the fair even begins.

Prime Expo Inc. Matchmaking makes it possible to send special questions, collaboration offers or special product requirements to a select group of visitors anonymously and without obligation. As an visitor, you then can decide if you are interested in these anonymous inquiries and whether you want to intensify the contacts.

What makes a matchmaking program a key component of the trade fair program?
“The answer to this question is easy! A matchmaking component is a key component of a trade show if it is able to close targeted matches based on the visitors’ interest. However, as easy as this answer sound, it begins to get complicated with the word “targeted”. Business interests are as diverse as the business itself. A matchmaking system must deliver a solution that matches the complicated and unusual business interests of a visitor in an easy way and it needs to have a usability that doesn’t require and technical skills from the user. That is a highly challenging task for a matchmaking program but necessary to become a key component.”

How does the technical development influence the practice of matchmaking?
“The technical development is the basis for all good matchmaking systems. Other industries have shown how an “easy match” works. Facebook is still a prime example. It works so easily to set up a private event on Facebook but the technical development and usability knowledge behind these kinds of websites are enormous. The big question is what we can learn from that usability workflow for our industry and how we can bring that to life.”

How would you rate the value of social media within matchmaking program?
“Social Media is leading the way. Social Media is no longer purely focused on the private or B2C sector. User behavior in terms of business decision making processes is changing rapidly. The first generation of Social Media natives will enter soon their first job position and not much later their first senior positions. At this time Social Media will have to be a part of a trade show experience. Otherwise we are in danger that the young generation of decision makers will turn their back to our industry.”

• Improve the services and the experience that event Organizers offer to Exhibitors and Visitors
• Save time and money
• Increase ROI for all stakeholders, making exhibitions more profitable
• Automatically match Visitors with Exhibitors, based on mutual product interest
• AND match Visitors with other Visitors, based on mutual business interests
• Do all this in real time, giving the Organizer a control panel overview during the event
• Enable Organizers, Exhibitors and Visitors to increase their return on investment
• Provide new income streams before, during and after the event
• Generate more sales opportunities: a Win-Win-Win situation for Organizers, Exhibitors and Visitors
• Collect reliable data electronically, saving paper and lead processing time
• Connect Visitors with Exhibitors
• Enable Organizers, Exhibitors and Visitors to save time, generate sales opportunities, and increase income